Life at the Blue Blaze Coal Mine, 1936

While most of the nation's coal industry was based in the East, some companies took a risk in the mountains of the West in the 1930's and 1940's. This photo series provides a glimpse in to the harsh life experienced by the men, women, and children of the Blue Blaze Coal Company in Consumers, Utah in 1936.

The Company Store was the mainstay of all coal mining communities. Just like Tennessee Ernie Ford said, "I owe my soul to the company store." The company provided housing and work, but then anything the families bought at the store would be deducted from their wages. Very few miners ever ended up with anything left over at the end of the month.

In the case of the Western mountain coal mines, much of the capital to fund them was based in the East, and so the owners were not always aware of the harsh conditions the mining families were living in.

One of the mining men of the town. The miners were small and equipment sparse in the Utah mines, so these men were expected to work much longer and harder hours than some of the miners in the East were experiencing.

Once the railroads were built, these mining companies popped up throughout the mountains. Many of them failed in the 1940's as other mines became more efficient or the workers moved on to seek a better life.